Coconut Baked Shrimp with Pineapple Peach Salsa

Coconut Baked Shrimp with Pineapple Peach Salsa.

June 7, 2011

Endings. They have to be good for me.

Last night I watched Dear John for the 87th time, hoping the ending would change. It didn’t. Whatever.

I re-read the last page of The Island for four days after finishing it because I craved a more concise finish. Never happened.

I even DVR-ed the Bachelorette in hopes that if I watched the ending twice my TV would implode and I’d never again have to see whatever… that is. A mess is what that is.

I never drain a cereal box because let’s face it… the end? Bunches of crumbs and weird powder that clumps into milk. I never scrape a carton of ice cream clean because there is rarely anything good left; I’ve already scooped out every marshmallow swirl and chocolate covered pretzel visible to the female eye. I never can drink the end of a smoothie… mostly because I have started to stuff my face with something far more substantial than liquid calories.

I do have to say that I like the end of pickle jars because I like pickle juice. I’m just going to close my eyes so I don’t see your expression here. It’s easier.

I also kinda like the end of coconut rum bottles because it probably means I’m drinking some. Hopefully with pineapple juice. Maybe a splash of cranberry. A wedge of lime. A sugared rim. A cabana boy named Gerard Butler.

Anyway.

If you like pickle juice and coconut rum too I’d totally give you my final rose. Unless your name is Bentley. And hopefully you don’t like those things together. Because that’s just… weird.

I really liked the end of this meal!

So much better than Dear John. Pretty sure it’s because I was eating and when I finished I was perfectly full. And blissful. I’m quite enamored with shrimp baked in coconut milk and garnished with a bit of crispiness. Going the extra mile and spooning some chunky peach salsa on top? I can die happy. Just let me swig some pickle juice first.

Coconut Baked Shrimp

serves 2-4

1 pound tail-on, peeled and deveined shrimp (I used 16-20 count)

2/3 cup lite coconut milk

2 tablespoons olive oil (I infused mine with some chopped tarragon and heated it over low heat)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (If you don’t like tarragon, sub parsley)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with non-stick spray. If desired, slice shrimp down the middle to butterfly. I did this because I like how it appears to make the shrimp “larger.”

Toss shrimp with salt and pepper, then lay in the baking dish. In a bowl, combine coconut milk, olive oil, garlic and tarragon. Pour over shrimp in the baking dish. In another bowl, mix bread crumbs and coconut. Sprinkle over shrimp. Bake for 20 minutes, or until bread crumbs are golden brown. Serve shrimp and spoon a bit of the coconut milk mixture over top. Top with salsa.

Note: if you are not a fan of coconut (especially the texture), you can leave it out and up the quantity of the panko bread crumbs. The coconut milk itself does not have a strong coconut flavor.

Pineapple Peach Salsa

1/4 cup chopped pineapple (about 4 large chunks)

1/3 cup chopped peaches (I used 2 white peaches)

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon chopped tarragon

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

juice of half a lemon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, spritz with lemon and toss to mix. Will stay fresh for 2-3 days in the fridge!